This chicken enchilada recipe is the ultimate economical meal. You can make chicken stock with a whole chicken and then use the meat that is left over to make this meal! The wraps are made out of lots of egg whites - which is a great way to use the saved egg whites from making the daily smoothie. It's a win-win. This uses up all the things that seem to get left in the refrigerator - saving lots of precious grocery dollars. Also, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sneak some nutrient-dense chicken livers (which are also super inexpensive!) into a dish where no one will ever know. ;)

And I didn't even mention that this meal is gluten-free, grain-free, gaps-approved, primal, paleo, low-carb, keto, and *almost* carnivore! Yup, no worries there. Now, I will say, that it is more on the time-consuming side of meal prep. But hey, it actually makes enough for TWO whole meals during the week plus a leftover lunch or two! So it is worth it. :)

This recipe makes enough for 8 full enchiladas. I usually eat one. The hubby will eat two. and the kids will split one. So we can get two full meals out of it! (Sometimes more!) Did I mention that these are SUPER filling?? So much protein and fat (yassssssss) will leave you satiated for hours. :)

This recipe is a "miss match" of several different recipes and some experimentation. I have always wanted a way to use the left over chicken meat when I make stock using a whole chicken. What I do is I make the stock as usual with a whole chicken in it (which gives the stock an AMAZING flavor) and then about 6 hours into simmering it, I remove the chicken, pick all the meat -and skin!!- off, and then put the bones back in to keep simmering in the stock for a full 24 hrs. I then turn the chicken meat and skin into tasty enchiladas or chicken salad. :)

Recipe:

Makes enough for 8 full enchiladas

*This sauce recipe is adapted from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions - the "Red Enchilada Sauce"

**The wrap recipe is adapted from Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint - "Enchiladas"

*Sauce:

1/4 c. olive oil or lard

1 medium onion, sliced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 4oz. can whole or chopped green chiles

2 c. beef or chicken stock

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp. pink himalayan salt

2 cans organic tomato paste

1 Tbs. red wine vinegar

Chicken Filling:

4-5 lb chicken meat, left over from making stock, or just left over cooked chicken

1/2 lb chicken livers, sautéed in butter and finely diced

grated cheese - grass-fed cheddar or jack

enchilada sauce

**Wraps:

2 c. egg whites, left over from making smoothies

2/3 c. grass-fed cream, raw if possible (find from a local farm here)

Pinch of real salt

pasture-raised lard for frying

Toppings:

scallions/green onions, chopped

cilantro, chopped

sour cream, grass-fed if possible

extra grated cheese

lime juice

To make the sauce: Chop the onion and sauté on medium-low heat with the cumin in the olive oil or lard. Stir frequently and continue sautéing until the onions are soft. Add the stock, the garlic, the can of chiles, the tomato paste, the salt, and the red wine vinegar. Stir and bring to a low boil. At this point, I use an immersion blender (I have this PINK ONE!!) to blend the sauce until smooth. Once the sauce is all smooth with no lumps or chunks left, put a TOP ON the saucepan (to avoid serious red enchilada sauce all over your kitchen!) and simmer on a very low heat for another 30 minutes or so to allow the flavors to really meld together. Half of the sauce will be for mixing with the chicken and livers and the other half will be for topping the final dish.

You may have some left over from that - feel free to store in a tightly sealed ball mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a month. You could even double the batch and make extra so that you can whip up some enchiladas on a moment's notice. The sauce is actually the most time consuming part. :)

YUM.

While the sauce is simmering, you can whip together the enchilada wraps. I really like this wrap recipe - it is lighter than my usual wrap recipe with coconut flour. And it is perfectly carnivore! (in case you care. ;)

To make the wraps: Put 2 cups of egg whites and 2/3 cup of grass-fed, raw cream into a quart-sized pyrex measuring cup (it makes it super easy to pour into the pan for cooking). Add a pinch of salt if you like. Blend thoroughly with that immersion blender again. Heat about 2 Tbsp of pasture-raised lard in a well-seasoned or enamel-covered cast iron skillet (like this one!) on medium heat. When the skillet is hot enough to sizzle, pour enough batter into the pan that it spreads to the edges and makes a decent sized wrap while still being thin. Find a large lid (I use my stock pot lid) and place it over the skillet for about 30-45 seconds to help the wrap cooke more evenly. Carefully loosen the edges of the wrap with a thin metal spatula. Flip it and cook on the other side until golden brown - about 30 -45 seconds. Add another scoop of lard before pouring the next batter. Do the same steps with each wrap until you run out of batter. :)

To make the enchiladas: Take your cooked chicken and chopped, cooked livers* and mix with a healthy amount of sauce (you should use about half of it) until all the meat is nice and moist and coated in enchilada goodness. Then grate a bunch of cheese - we like to use Kerrygold Dubliner cheddar, but you could use jack cheese as well! Lay a wrap out on a flat surface, add the chicken and sauce mixture and a big handful of cheese to the wrap. Carefully wrap it up and place it (with the overlapping part face down) in a large rectangle pyrex dish. Fill each of the other wraps with filling and cheese as well until the pan is full. I usually have to use two pyrex pans (a big one and a little one) to fit all 8! Add some more sauce to the top of each enchilada and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle some more cheese on top!

*I sometimes have leftover chicken liver pate that needs to be eaten and I will add that to the enchilada mix instead of/or in addition to chopped liver. To cook the livers, just sauté the livers in some butter until browned, let cool for a minute, and then chop up finely.

Bake at 350 F for about 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

While the enchiladas are baking, prepare the toppings. Chop the cilantro and the scallions. Get out your sour cream and and lime wedges and get ready to dig in!!

Once the enchiladas come out of the oven, carefully place one on each plate. Top each enchilada with sour cream, cilantro, scallions, and a big squeeze of fresh lime juice!! Dinner is served. :D

I really hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know how it turned out for you!

Enjoy!!

~Sallie

I may be compensated through my affiliate links in this post, but all opinions are my own. This compensation helps with expenses to keep this blog up and running.

Some of the links on this website are affiliate links. We do not link to anything that we do not wholeheartedly endorse and use ourselves. You'll be glad to know that by shopping at these links your purchase will help to financially support realfatlife.com at no extra cost to you!

#dinner #chicken #enchiladas #glutenfree #eggwhites #cheese #gaps #lowcarb #keto